French idioms can feel like a secret handshake – once you know a few, conversations suddenly feel warmer and more real. This collection of about 97 popular French idioms skips the poetic museum pieces and gives you the expressions people actually use when they’re chatting at the market, telling a story, or just having a laugh.
Every idiom comes with a plain‑English meaning and a natural example sentence, so you can see it in action instead of staring at a translation that doesn’t quite click. No guesswork – just straightforward vocabulary you can steal for your next conversation.
If French expressions sometimes feel like tiny riddles wearing berets, you’re in the right place—SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM to grab your free printable popular French idioms vocabulary list PDF and your free downloadable printable popular French idioms flashcards.
Want more than one list? Browse our French section for more Yak Yacker study pages, printable lists, and quiz-friendly review material.
Quick Quiz
Think you can tell your ‘avoir le cafard’ from your ‘donner sa langue au chat’? The quick quiz below is a playful way to check how many of these idioms you’ve already locked in – no pressure, just a friendly nudge.
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Browse the Full List
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| avoir la pêche | ah-vwar lah pesh |
| avoir la rage | ah-vwar lah razh |
| avoir le cafard | ah-vwar luh ka-far |
| avoir le cœur gros | ah-vwar luh kur gro |
| avoir le moral à zéro | ah-vwar luh mo-ral ah zay-ro |
| avoir le seum | ah-vwar luh seum |
| avoir le trac | ah-vwar luh trak |
| avoir les boules | ah-vwar lay bool |
| avoir les dents longues | ah-vwar lay dahn lohng |
| avoir les nerfs | ah-vwar lay nerf |
| avoir plus d’un tour dans son sac | ah-vwar plu duhn toor dahn sohn sak |
| avoir quelqu’un dans le nez | ah-vwar kel-kuhn dahn luh nay |
| avoir un chat dans la gorge | ah-vwar uhn sha dahn lah gorzh |
| avoir un cœur d’artichaut | ah-vwar uhn kur dar-tee-sho |
| avoir un coup de barre | ah-vwar uhn koo duh bar |
| avoir un mot sur le bout de la langue | ah-vwar uhn mo sur luh boo duh lah lahng |
| avoir un poil dans la main | ah-vwar uhn pwal dahn lah man |
| avoir une peur bleue | ah-vwar uhn pur bluh |
| bancaire | bank |
| bec | beak |
| bélier | ram |
| bocal | jar |
| BOF | OST |
| bouquin | book |
| brebis | ewe |
Free Popular French Idioms PDF and Flashcards to Download
Download the purple vocab-list button for the popular French idioms vocabulary list and the teal button for the popular French idioms flashcards. Both are 100% free with no signup, because learning idioms should be fun, not fussy.
